How did you celebrate?

It was the Pope's birthday yesterday. I know because I was listening to NPR and I heard that he spent his birthday on the south lawn of the White House. And then I heard them sing him The Birthday Song. President Bush and 9,000 of the Pope's closest friends and relations sang:

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday...

And at this point, all hell kind of broke loose, so to speak, because really, what do you actually call the Pope when you sing him The Birthday Song? I mean, it seems like a kind of silly proposition anyway. You might wish him Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag I suppose, or maybe the equivalent in Italian or even Latin. You might invite him to bathe in ambergris or anoint his feet or something, but eighty-one is a lot of candles to blow out, and whoever had to bake 9,000 cupcakes better be going to Heaven.

So there was this huge and hearty version of The Birthday Song -- ridiculous enough in and of itself -- but it seems like it wasn't rehearsed in the slightest, because everybody just balked when it came to the third line. Several people, I think, sang "Happy Birthday, Pope Benedict." My favorite, though, was actually the most prominent voice, which sang "Happy Birthday, Holy Father."

I was listening to this delectable sound-bite in my driveway with my car windows down and cackled just in time for my next-door neighbor to hear me and ask if anything was wrong. I tried to explain, but evidently, as so often happens I am the only one who thinks this is funny.